Elsie M Shackford

Elsie M Shackford the daughter of Franklin Pierce and Helen (Lewis) Shackford was born September 8, 1888 in Chester, New Hampshire. We find her listed in the 1900 census in Chester and listed in the honor roll records when she was 15. Elsie then attended Colby Academy. She’s listed as teaching school at the age of 21 in the 1910 census, moving in 1912 with her family to Lawrence, Massachusetts, returning to Derry by 1916 when she worked as a bookkeeper for the W. B. S. company, and as the bookkeeper for a shoe factory in the 1920 census.

Elsie and Benjamin probably met at work as they were employed at the same shoe factory. They filed their intention to marry on Jan 15th and were married on January 23rd which was reported in this detailed article in The Derry News on February 2nd, 1923.

The Derry News, 2 Feb 1923

On Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock
a pretty home wedding was solem-
ized at the residence of Mr. and Mrs.
Frank P. Shackford, 7 Everett street,
when their only daughter Miss Elsie
M. Shackford and Benjamin S. Hois-
ington were united in mar-
riage by the Rev. J. H. Nichols of this
town. The double ring service was
used. The bride was given away by
her father. The matron of honor was
Mrs. Wilber Woodbridge of Laenie,
who was a classmate of the bride at
Colby academy The best man was
Walter A. Hoisington a brother of the
groom. Miss Doris Gatermulk of Dor-
chester, a cousin of the bride played
the wedding march from Lobagrin.
The bride and groom were under a
large floral bell, the decorations of the
room being in green and white, and
the decorations of the dining-room
of yellow and white. Streamers of
theme colors, potted plants and eve
flowers made a very attractive appear-
ance.
The ushers were Louis Shackford of
Somerville, Mass, the brother of the
bride, and Wilber M. Woodbridge, of
Laconia. Only immediate relatives
and friends witnessed the ceremony.
The bride’s dress was of brown chif-
fon velvet, with a hat of brown and
gold to match and she carried a bridal
bouquet of white roses, sweet peas and
lilies of the valley.
The groom’s gift to the bride was a
beautiful bar pin, set with sapphires
and diamonds and the bride’s gift to
the matron of honor was a pair of ear-
drops set in platinum. The bride gave
to Miss Gutermuth a rich Paisley
shawl, and the groom’s gift to the best
man and ushers was solid gold cuff
links. Mr. and Mrs Hoisington re-
ceived many very valuable and useful
wedding present.
The bride had been the bookkeeper
in the W. M. Taply shoe factory the
past two years and the groom is as-
sistant superintendent there. He is
also a member of the Men’s club, of
the fire department and of the D. A. A.
having been manager of the baseball
team the past year.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoisington left on the
5 o’clock train for Boston and New
York. They will return to make their
home in Derry.

Elsie’s husband Benjamin worked in the shoe business as a cutter, foreman of the factory and then proprietor of a newsstand while Elsie worked as a stitcher, then bookkeeper of a shoe factory.

While Benjamin had four children from his previous marriages, we don’t believe he and Elsie had any children together. Benjamin and Elsie remained at 7 Everett Street in Deery but may have traveled to Ponoma City, California for a bit in 1956. Benjamin died in April 1969 at the age of 86 and Elsie died in December 1973 at the age of 85. They are both buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry.

All posts on this website are a work in progress. We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared. Also we’d love it if you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!

Annual Reports of the Selectmen, Overseer of the Poor, Town Treasurer, Town Clerk School Board, Library Trustees, and Auditors of the Town of Chester for the Year ending February 14, 1903. (Deery, N. H.: Charles Bartlett, Printer, 1903), page 34; digital images, My Heritage Library Edition (http://myheritagelibraryedition.com : accessed 28 January 2015.

Franklin Pierce Shackford, the son of Jonathan and Harriett N. (Farnham) Shackford was born June 1, 1854 in Chester, New Hampshire and lived with his parents in Chester until at least 1880 when he was “working on shoes”.

When he was 33, Franklin married Helen A Lewis, the daughter of John E and Helen A (Stevens) Lewis on Dec 14, 1887 in Portsmouth, Maine and returned to Chester where he worked as a mason and served as a selectman. His wife worked as a dressmaker and raised their two children. Sometime before 1910 they moved to Derry where Franklin worked as a mason, farmer, and shoe maker. Franklin died in Manchester at the age of 72 on July 5, 1926 of a cerebral hemorrhage after being a patient in the Lucy Hasting Hospital for about four weeks and was buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry.

Franklin had written his will in 1910 designating his beloved wife as administrator but unfortunately she had died on March 12, 1925. We have not yet found who assumed that responsibility but know that he also left $500 to his two children Elsie M Shackford who had married Benjamin Shubel Hoisington in 1923 and Irwin Lewis Shackford who had married Annette Mabel Parsons in 1913.

Franklin P Shackford’s Will

Will Franklin P Shackford Derry
Be it Remembered that I Franklin P Shackford of Derry, in the County of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, considering the uncertainty of this mortal life and being of sound mind and perfect memory, do make and publish this as my last will and testament hereby revoking all other wills heretofore by me made in the manner following
First After the payment of my just debts and funeral expenses by my executor, hereinafter named, I give and bequeath to my daughter Elsie M Shackford the sum of five hundred dollars
Second I give and bequeath to my son, Irwin L Shackford the sum of five hundred dollars

Third I give, bequeath and devise all the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal of every description and where ever found to my beloved wife Helen A Shackford to her own and behalf forever.
Fourth I do hereby appoint my said wife sole
executor of this my last will and testament to
furnish a surety as sureties on her bond as
such executrix.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand and seal this sixteenth day of February 1910.
Frank P Shackford (seal)
Signed, published, and declared by the above
Franklin P Shackford as and for his last will
and testament in the presence of us three, who at
his request in his presence and in presence of
each other have subscribed our names as witnesses
as hereto.
Edwin B Weston
A Arlean Bartlett
George I Bartlett
Recorded truly Robet Scott Registrar

Annual Reports of the Selectmen, Overseer of the Poor, Town Treasurer, Town Clerk School Board, Library Trustees, and Auditors of the Town of Chester for the Year ending February 14, 1903. (Derry, N. H.: Charles Bartlett, Printer, 1903), page 4; digital images, My Heritage Library Edition (http://myheritagelibraryedition.com : accessed 28 January 2015.